Grinding device for grinding end of rod into spherical surface

ABSTRACT

A grinding device includes a grinding wheel spun by a first driver, a holder, and a second driver providing linear movement to the holder. The grinding wheel defines a groove which has a hemispherical bottom surface. The holder holds a light-transmitting rod with an end inserted into the groove and set substantially parallel to a rotating axis of the grinding wheel.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to grinding technologies and, moreparticularly, to a grinding device for grinding an end of a rod into aspherical surface.

2. Description of Related Art

Electronic incense sticks include a tube having a spherical end. Lightis directed to the spherical end to simulate the burnt head of aconventional incense stick. Currently, the spherical end is formed bymanual grinding, which is an inefficient usage of human resource.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a grinding device, which canovercome the above-mentioned problems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed uponclearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a planar schematic view of a grinding device for grinding anend of a rod into a spherical surface, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line II-II of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with referenceto the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a grinding device 100, according to an embodiment,is configured for grinding an end 210 of a rod 200 into a sphericalsurface (not shown). The rod 200 can be tubular and is made oftransparent material such as acrylic and polycarbonate. As such, theground rod 200 can be used to finish an electronic incense stick, inwhich light is directed to the ground end 210 to simulate the burnt orsmoldering head of a conventional incense stick.

The grinding device 100 includes a grinding wheel 20, a first driver 30,a holder 40, a second driver 50, and a blower 60.

The grinding wheel 20 is substantially a circular plate and is made ofabrasive material such as ceramic, metal, or diamond. The grinding wheel20 includes a first surface 21 and a rotating axis O substantiallyperpendicular to the first surface 21. The grinding wheel 20 defines agroove 22 into the first surface 21. The groove 22 is essentially acircular recess which is concentric about the rotating axis O and formsa cylindrical sidewall 23 and a hemispherical bottom surface 24. Aninner diameter of the sidewall 23 is substantially equal to or slightlygreater than an outer diameter of the rod 200. A roughness of thesidewall 23 is less than 0.8 micron, and in one embodiment, theroughness of the sidewall 23 is 0.2 micron. A roughness of the bottomsurface 24 is in a range from about 0.2 micron to 0.8 micron.

The first driver 30 includes a rotating motor 31 and a shaft 32 coupledto the rotating motor 31. The rotating motor 31 spins the shaft 32 abouta spin axis O′.

Referring to FIG. 2, the holder 40 includes two clamping plates 41, eachof which defines a semi-cylindrical recess 42. The clamping plates 41can be combined by fasteners such as screws 43 such that the recesses 42cooperatively form a cylindrical hole (not labeled). A diameter of thecylindrical hole is substantially equal to or slightly smaller than theouter diameter of the rod 200.

The second driver 50 is a linear motor and includes a stator 51 and aslider 52. The second driver 50 drives the slider 52 along the stator 51in a direction D.

The blower 60 creates a fast-moving flow of air.

In assembly, the grinding wheel 20 is fixed to the shaft 32 such thatthe rotating axis O coincides with the spin axis O′. The rod 200 isclamped between the clamping plates 41 such that the rod 200 isaccommodated in the recesses 42. Then, the clamping plates 41 arecombined and are fixed to the slider 52 and the rod 200 is inserted intothe groove 22 such that the rod 200 is substantially parallel todirection D and the rotating axis O.

In operation, the first driver 30 drives the grinding wheel 20 torotate. The second driver 50 drivers the rod 200 to move towards thegrinding wheel 20 along with the holder 40. Thus, the end 210 issubjected to grinding. The rod 200 can be pulled out at predeterminedintervals and the blower 60 can blow the dust and powder of grinding outof the groove 22.

It will be understood that the above particular embodiments are shownand described by way of illustration only. The principles and thefeatures of the present disclosure may be employed in various andnumerous embodiments thereof without departing from the scope of thedisclosure. The above-described embodiments illustrate the possiblescope of the disclosure but do not restrict the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A grinding device, comprising: a grinding wheeldefining a groove symmetrical about a rotating axis and having ahemispherical bottom surface; a first driver coupled to the grindingwheel and configured for driving the grinding wheel to rotate about therotating axis; a holder configured for holding a rod having an endinserted into the groove and set substantially parallel with therotating axis; and a second driver coupled to the holder and configuredfor driving the rod to move towards the grinding wheel along a directionthat is substantially parallel with the rotating axis.
 2. The grindingdevice of claim 1, wherein the grinding wheel is a circular platesymmetrical about the rotating axis.
 3. The grinding device of claim 1,wherein the grinding wheel is made of an abrasive material selected fromthe group consisting of ceramic, metal, and diamond.
 4. The grindingdevice of claim 1, wherein the grinding wheel comprises a first surfacesubstantially perpendicular to the rotating axis and the groove isdefined in the first surface
 5. The grinding device of claim 4, whereinthe groove forms a cylindrical sidewall connecting the first surface andthe bottom surface.
 6. The grinding device of claim 5, wherein an innerdiameter of the sidewall is substantially equal to or slightly greaterthan an outer diameter of the rod.
 7. The grinding device of claim 5,wherein a roughness of the sidewall is less than 0.8 micron.
 8. Thegrinding device of claim 5, wherein a roughness of the sidewall is 0.2micron.
 9. The grinding device of claim 1, wherein a roughness of thebottom surface is in a range from about 0.2 micron to 0.8 micron. 10.The grinding device of claim 1, wherein the first driver comprises arotating motor and a shaft coupled to the rotating motor, the rotatingmotor is configured for driving the shaft to spin about a spin axis, andthe grinding wheel is fixed to the shaft such that the rotating axiscoincides with the spin axis.
 11. The grinding device of claim 1,wherein the holder comprises two clamping plates, each of which define asemi-cylindrical recess, the clamping plates clamp the rod such that therod is fittingly accommodated in the recesses of the two clampingplates.
 12. The grinding device of claim 1, wherein the second driver isa linear motor and comprises a stator and a slider, the second driver isconfigured for driving the slider to slide on the stator along adirection which is substantially parallel with the rod and the rotatingaxis.
 13. The grinding device of claim 1, comprising a blower, thesecond driver being configured to pull the rod out of the groove at apredetermined interval, and the blower being configured to blow air intothe groove when the rod is pulled out of the groove.